Review by Andrew Bansal
[Photos by Matt Nielson]
May 3rd 2014, Fonda Theatre, Hollywood CA: On the strength of a highly successful North American tour debut last fall, Italian instrumental cinematic progressive rock luminaries Goblin returned for a tour Stateside this spring and on its penultimate date, visited Los Angeles to play at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood. Fort Worth TX-based avant-garde outfit Pinkish Black have been opening for Goblin on this run, and with this lineup, the show possessed great potential to deliver something special to the attendees, particularly those that had missed out on the Goblin experience because of the tickets almost instantly selling out the previous time they were in town.
Doors opened at 8 PM, and I was able to find seats in the center of the second row of the balcony, exactly the same vantage point I had for the Ghost show here last Sunday. Pinkish Black began the show at 9 PM and the duo of Daron Beck on keyboards/vocals and Jon Teague on drums/synth played a 40-minute set of atmospheric, experimental music through a unique combination of sound patterns. As I mentioned in a recent review, two-piece groups embody the new level in the evolution of heavy music, and unlike when they opened for Kylesa last year at the Echoplex wherein I wasn’t quite able to properly understand or appreciate their presentation, Pinkish Black gave a good account of themselves on this occasion and impressed a large majority of the seemingly open-minded audience gathered here. The drums and low-end synth sounds formed the prominent element of the music with Daron Beck’s dronish vocals complementing it well, but it must be said the keyboard segments were enjoyable to a greater extent, and Pinkish Black’s music would become even more powerful and thought-provoking if the keyboards were to play a bigger part in the compositions. But regardless, Pinkish Black delivered an intriguing set of innovative music as an ideal warmup for the headline act.
Pinkish Black links:
facebook.com/PinkishBlackBand
Promptly at 10:15, Goblin took the stage for a sonically rich 95-minute exhibition of progressive rock. Now boasting four-fifths of the classic lineup with bassist Fabio Pignatelli and drummer Agostino Marangolo returning to the band, Goblin brought forth a true representation of their musical repertoire and history, with the added bonus of guest musician Steve Moore of Pittsburgh space rock band Zombi on the second keyboard, replacing regular keyboardist Aidan Zammit who was unavailable due to prior commitments. In this set, Goblin presented some of the movie scores they’re best known for, but a sizable chunk of the set was also focussed on the non-soundtrack prog material.
It’s almost sacrilegious to say this about a Goblin show, but the prog music segment of the set, sans the video clips playing on the projection screen in the background, appealed more to me than the cinematic aspect simply because the musical talents of the five members were highlighted much more on tunes like ‘Magic Thriller’, ‘Mad Puppet’, ‘Roller’ and ‘Profondo Rosso’. Massimo Morante delivered his guitar parts brilliantly through an immaculate tone and the combination of the bass and drums had a very old-school Yes/Rush-like prog vibe to it, but for me Maurizio Guarini and Steve Moore’s keyboards were the standout feature in the band’s collective sound. Even four decades on since their inception, they clearly have their act together, as strong in their performance and musicianship as ever, and for that reason their upcoming full-length studio album will be an eagerly anticipated release for prog fans everywhere.
With that said, the movie scores certainly formed an integral portion of the set, but when it came to the combination of the music being played by the band and the visual sequences, I perceived the music in the foreground and the visuals as simply an on-screen depiction of something along the lines of what a listener would imagine while mentally occupied with this kind of music, which is quite the opposite to how it would be perceived if it was just a theatrical screening of the visuals without the live band. But seeing dark, hauntingly twisted clips from movies like Zombi (Dawn Of The Dead), Susperia and Non Ho Sonno (Sleepless) while the band played their scores live was a richly powerful experience, and even as someone who’s least interested in movies, I’m a lot more inclined to watch these particular films to discover the interplay between the music and the visual story in greater detail.
Besides the musical brilliance of the two bands that graced the stage for this show, the sound quality at the Fonda was once again top notch, specially from my vantage point, and the turnout although light at first, built up to a sizable amount of people by the time Goblin started their set.
Overall, unlike the pretentiousness and superficial nature of the so-called theatricality of a certain Swedish band that played this very stage a week ago, Goblin proved themselves as the true forerunners and stalwarts of the genre, and for prog music and cinematic score fans alike, it’s a delight to see them fully active as a touring band as well as a creative force.
Related: Video Interview With Maurizio Guarini
Check out some more great photos of Goblin & Pinkish Black in the slideshow below (view them here if you’re on a non-Flash device):
Goblin links:
GoblinOfficial.com
facebook.com/GoblinOfficialPage
twitter.com/GoblinBand
instagram.com/GoblinOfficial
Set List:
01. Magic Thriller
02. Mad Puppet
03. Dr. Frankenstein
04. Roller
05. E Suono Rock
06. Aquaman
07. Non Ho Sanno / Death Farm
08. Goblin
09. Dawn Of The Dead ( L’alba dei Morti Viventi ) / Zombi
10. Tenebre
11. Suspiria
12. Profondo Rosso
Encore:
13. Zaratozom
Remaining Dates:
May 4 Oakland, CA – The Oakland Metro
Fonda Theatre links:
FondaTheatre.com
facebook.com/TheFonda
twitter.com/FondaTheatre
instagram.com/FondaTheatre